Investigating the Efficacy of HIV/AIDS Psycho-Education and Behavioural Skills Training in Reducing Sexual Risk Behaviours in a Trucking Population in Nigeria

Long Distance Truck Drivers (LDTDs) have been
found to be a high risk group in the spread of HIV/AIDS globally;
perhaps, due to their high Sexual Risk Behaviours (SRBs).
Interventions for reducing SRBs in trucking population have not been
fully exploited. A quasi-experimental control group pretest-posttest
design was used to assess the efficacy of psycho-education and
behavioural skills training in reducing SRBs among LDTDs. Sixteen
drivers rivers were randomly assigned into either experimental or
control groups using balloting technique. Questionnaire was used as
an instrument for data collection. Repeated measures t-test and
independent t-test were used to test hypotheses. Intervention had
significant effect on the SRBs among LDTDs at post-test (t{7}=
6.01, p<.01) and at follow up (t{7} = 6.42, p<.01). No significant
difference in sexual risk behaviour of LDTDs at post-test and at
follow-up stage. Similarly, intervention had significant effects on
sexual risk behaviour at post-test (t {14} = - 4.69, p<.05) and at
follow-up (t {14} = -9.56, p<.05) respectively. At post-test and
follow-up stages, drivers in experimental group reported reduced
SRBs than those in control group. Drivers in experimental group
reported lower sexual risk behaviour a week after intervention as well
as at three months follow-up than those in control group. It is
concluded that HIV/AIDS preventive intervention that provides the
necessary informational and behavioural skills content can
significantly impact long distance truck drivers’ sexual risk
behaviours.





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